Combination brush and wiper



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COMBINATION BRUSH AND WIPER Filed Oct. 31, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a 'za y b 46 I venio? Sinai"? T. SheaFS,

3,091,788 COMBINATIGN BRUSH AND WIPER Stuart T. Shears, Belmont, Mass, assignor to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, of Delaware Filed Oct. 31, 1960, Ser. No. 66,389 2 Claims. (Cl. 15-4) Mass, a corporation This invention relates to the assembly of a drive shaft having an integral stud element, a brush, a cleaning pad and a separable fastening means.

An object of the invention is to provide the assembly of a drive shaft having an integral stud element, a brush, cleaning pad and a snap fastener having a comparatively long shank portion and comparatively broad flange portion.

A further object of the invention is to provide the assembly of a drive shaft having an integral stud element, a brush, cleaning pad and a fastener means capable of engagement to a drive shaft of a rotating element which will allow the element to rotate in either direction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide the assembly of a drive shaft having an integral stud element, a brush, cleaning pad and a fastener means for engagement with a rotating element which will not mar surfaces on which the rotating element is used.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of a floor polishing machine showing one side with scrub brush attached and the other side without scrub brush attached;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the machine shown in FIG. 1 with part of the side without the scrub brush and being broken away;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the machine shown in FIG. 1 with one side broken away showing a pad and fastener assembled onto the scrub brush;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4- of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the fastener; and

FIG. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown the working elements of a rotating floor polisher comprising a housing 10, a drive shaft 12 and a scrub brush 14.

The applicant has not shown the gear train, the motor or handle elements of the floor polisher since the invention is not concerned with the controls or drive mechanism of which there are numerous types old in the art which may be utilized.

There are four major problems confronting the manufacturers of floor polishers in producing a versatile machine which is not too complicated for use by the average housewife. The first of these problems is to provide a series of brushes and pads capable of doing different types of cleaning which can be easily attached and removed from the machine. An old method of accomplishing this is to provide a screw or bolt element on the drive shaft which engages with an internally threaded nut or washer to retain the brush or pad. This type of fastening leads to the next two problems, that is, to provide a fastener which will allow rotation in both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction and to provide a fastener that will not mar the surface to be cleaned. In the screw type of fastener, the brush or pad can only be rotated in the one direction allowed by the threads and because of the required shape of almost all nuts, which can be conveniently applied, the brush or pad must be engaged Well below the working surface to prevent mar-ring.

Another method of fastening is that of a cleat which iited States Patent 0 longitudinally engages the shaft. This type can be made to avoid the necessity of turning a nut off and on, and will, if properly constructed, allow rotation in two directions, however, in order to avoid marring, the cleat must engage the shaft below the cleaning surface and this fact makes it difficult to easily remove the cleaning elements.

The applicants device has none of the disadvantages mentioned and since it may be made of plastic materials, there is no danger of damage to the fastener by friction, heat, grease or a wide range of water temperatures. There is the additional advantage in applicants device in that the scrub brush need not be removed to use the cleaning pad.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, beside the elements heretofore mentioned, there is shown a pad 16 which may be of any material necessary to accomplish the required work, such as steel Wool and a fastener 18.

The driveshaft 12 comprises a bearing portion (not shown), a polygonal portion 22, a rod portion 24 and a stud portion 26. A gear train (not shown) is engaged to said drive shaft 12 through said bearing portion 22 and to a motor engaged at the opposite end of said gear train. A bearing 28 circumscribes the bearing portion Zllpreventing the shaft from striking the sides or walls between which it is passed. The said polygonal portion 22 is in the form of a cylindrical octagon although other geometric forms such as a hexagon may be used.

The said polygonal portion 22 engages said scrub brush :1 in a manner to be described hereinafter. The said rod portion 24 is cylindrical in form and connects said polygonal portion 22 with said stud portion 26 as shown in FIG. 2. 'The diameter of said polygonal portion 22 is smaller than the diameter of said bearing 28 creating a shoulder portion 30 on the terminal end of said polygonal portion 22 closest to said bearing 28. The said stud portion 26 comprises a stud having an external peripheral shoulder 27 and a radially extending flange 29 as shown in FIG. 2. Naturally, the stud portion 26 may be formed in any necessary way to make proper engagement with the corresponding type of socket portion 52 that may be used.

The said scrub brush 14 comprises a Wooden base portion 32 having an inner wall 34 defining an aperture, having a configuration corresponding to the form of said polygonal portion 22, a series of bristles 38 extending from one side of said base portion 32 and defining a central opening 40 and a locking cleat '42. moveably connected at one of its terminal ends to said base portion 32 and having an engaging wall 44 defining an arcuate notch approximately midway between its point of connection and its opposite terminal end. The said engaging wall 44- lies on a plane in spaced superimposed position to the area formed between said inner wall 34.

The said fastener 18 comprises a circular flange portion 48 having a tubular upstanding shank portion 50 axially formed in integral axial relationship thereto. Said tubular shank portion 50 is open at both its terminal ends and has a socket portion 52 integrally formed at the terminal end of said shank portion 50' farthest from said flange portion 48 as shown in FIG. 6. An arcuate head 54 is formed adjacent the open terminal end of said flange portion 48 extending into the area circumscribed by said socket portion 52.

As shown in FIG. 6, said socket portion 5-2 is a continuation of said shank portion 50 and the areas circumscribed by said socket portion 52 and by said shank portion 50 are separated by an apertured bridging element 56 which assists in stiffening said socket portion 52 and said shank portion 50.

The housing 10 comprises an outer shell 58, an inner shell 6% and a sealing gasket 62. The outer shell 58 is similar in configuration to the inner shell 60, however, it has a greater diameter than said inner shell 69 and in assembly circumscribes in spaced relation the major portion of said inner shell 60. The outer shell 58 has a generally cup shaped form with an aperture formed on its arcuate portion and with a circumferential free peripheral edge. The free peripheral edge of the outer shell 58 and of the inner shell 60 are joined by said sealing gasket 62 as shown in FIG. 4. The housing 16 serves both for its aesthetic value and for its prevention of dust and other such materials from reaching the drive mechanism.

To engage the drive shaft 12 with said scrub brush 14, said fastener 18 and said pad 16, the driveshaft 12 is passed between said inner wall 34 of said base portion 32 until the opposite side of said base portion 32 from the side on which the bristles are located abuts or comes into close proximity to a portion of said bearing 28, and said shoulder portion 3&1. The length of said polygonal portion 22 of said driveshaft v1 2 is approximately equal to the thickness of said base 32. The locking cleat 42 can now be swiveled, whereby its engaging wall 44 will circumscribe a portion of said rod portion 24 sandwiching and locking said base portion 32 between said locking cleat 42 and said shoulder portion 30. The said pad 16' can now be placed in superposed, a butting relationship with said bristles 38- of said scrub brush 14. The pad 16 has a shank engaging wall 64 defining an axial aparture and the socket portion 52 and the shank portion 50 of the fastener :18 are passed between the shank engaging wall 64 and said socket portion 52 is engaged to the stud portion 26 of said drive shaft 12 whereby the bead 54 is snapped around the neck of the stud portion 26 behind the external peripheral shoulder 27 in a manner old in the fastener art. Both said socket portion 52 and said shank portion together have a length slightly .less' than the distance from the end of the stud portion 26 to the outermost face of the pad 16 so that when the fastener 18 is engaged to the stud portion 26, as described hereinbefore, the flange portion 48 of the fastener 18 depresses part of the pad 16, whereby the flange 48 lies on a plane spaced below the outer surface of the pad 16 as shown in FIG. 4.

Since certain other obvious modifications may be made in this device without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims, it is intended th a matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustr and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. The combination of a separable fastener, a drive shaft having a rod portion at its extremity, a brush having bristles, and a cleaning pad, said brush having means for engaging said rod portion and said fastener including two elements, said two elements comprising a stud element formed on the end of said drive shaft and a socket element formed from a single piece of plastic material, said socket element comprising a tubular shank portion extending from a flange portion, said flange portion having a diameter greater than said shank portion, and said shank portion and said rod portion together having a length slightly greater than the height of said bristles, said socket element separably engaging said stud element and said flange portion engaging the underside of said cleaning pad whereby said cleaning pad is placed in abutting relation with said bristles.

2. The combination of a separable fastener, a drive shaft having a rod portion at its extremity, a brush having bristles and a cleaning pad, said brush having means for engaging said drive shaft, and said fastener including two elements, said two elements comprising a fastener element formed on the end of said rod portion and a complementary fastener element, said complementary fastener element comprising a tubular shank portion extending from a flange portion, said flange portion having a diameter greater than said shank portion, and said shank portion and said rod portion together having a length slightly greater than the height of said bristles, said complementary fastener element separably engaging said fastener element and said flange portion engaging the underside of said cleaning pad whereby said cleaning pad is placed in abutting relation with said bristles.

References Cited in the file of this patent Nillson et al Nov. 22, 1960 

1. THE COMBINATION OF A SEPARABLE FASTENER, A DRIVE SHAFT HAVING A ROD PORTION AT ITS EXTREMITY, A BRUSH HAVING BRISTLES, AND A CLEANING PAD, SAID BRUSH HAVING MEANS FOR ENGAGING SAID ROD PORTION AND SAID FASTENER INCLUDING TWO ELEMENTS, SAID TWO ELEMENTS COMPRISING A STUD ELEMENT FORMED ON THE END OF SAID DRIVE SHAFT AND A SOCKET ELEMENT FORMED FROM A SINGLE PIECE OF PLASTIC MATERIAL, SAID SOCKET ELEMENT COMPRISING A TUBULAR SHANK PORTION EXTENDING FROM A FLANGE PORTION, SAID FLANGE PORTION HAVING A DIAMETER GREATER THAN SAID SHANK PROTION, AND SAID SHANK PROTION AND SAID ROD PORTION TOGETHER HAVING A LENGTH SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE HEIGHT OF SAID BRISTLES, SAID SOCKET ELEMENT SEPARABLY ENGAGING SAID STUD ELEMENT AND SAID FLANGE PORTION ENGAGING THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID CLEANING PAD WHEREBY SAID CLEANING PAD IS PLACED IN ABUTTING RELATION WITH SAID BRISTLES. 